any advise

[sunshine04]

Hi Is there any one can advise me of my situation, here is my situation
My husband and I got married in Oct of last year, sent in inland paper work August of this year, I came here on a visitor visa and extended my time once which was granted, however I did not extend since we got married, I thought not necessary, also we read where a person does not have to be legal to marry, my husband is Canadian, did I misunderstood that ? now that I have no status , how will it affect our paper work ?
any advise would be greatfull
Thank you

 

[Alurra71]

Did you send in an OWP with your inland application?

Marriage does not give you any rights nor status in Canada, even married to a Canadian citizen.

If you sent in your OWP with your application, then you have implied status while you wait. If you did not send in the OWP with your application and are worried about your status, you can renew your visitor record once again and it shouldn't be too troublesome for you.

 

[DuberBlue]

Isn't just having applied inland sufficient for the Implied Status, regardless of whether they have applied for the OWP? That is what I have always been led to believe (and the sticky thread is worded as such as well).

 

[Alurra71]

I think that all depends on your status at the time of your application receipt, Duber. If she was out of status at the time, then there is no implied status, so far as I know. Now the up side, from what I gather, is that you are not required to HAVE a status in Canada to process your paperwork. The only down side to that, is that if they decide, for some reason, to come after you to remove you from Canada, then they legally can as you have no status.

I don't think that will happen in this case, so please don't stress that part. If you are TRULY worried about your status, then you can apply for your visit record again and it should be granted with no problems.

 

[sunshine04]

Thanks for the replies, What is OWP ? To be honest we had a lawyer prepare the paper work but he did not give us much information, i would fine out if he did OWP, however if he did , then I have status ? if he did not , can still renew my visitor status even though its long pass 90 days?

 

[DuberBlue]

I think that all depends on your status at the time of your application receipt, Duber. If she was out of status at the time, then there is no implied status, so far as I know. Now the up side, from what I gather, is that you are not required to HAVE a status in Canada to process your paperwork. The only down side to that, is that if they decide, for some reason, to come after you to remove you from Canada, then they legally can as you have no status.

I don't think that will happen in this case, so please don't stress that part. If you are TRULY worried about your status, then you can apply for your visit record again and it should be granted with no problems.

Ahh...that is a very interesting distinction, and it makes sense when I think about it. I never considered that you may very well need that status in the first place just to be able to apply inland.

There's this little tidbit from the CIC site:
"Spouses and common‑law partners of Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Canada who wish to apply for permanent resident status are no longer required to have legal immigration status provided that they have an eligible sponsor. All other eligibility requirements continue to apply."

Even that in itself, I think is ambiguous. Do they mean, from when CIC determines that they have an eligible sponsor, so that until that time, you MUST maintain status? It's almost a separate discussion at this point and I don't want to derail the thread, but I think it ventures into legalspeak at this point

 

[Alurra71]

Thanks for the replies, What is OWP ? To be honest we had a lawyer prepare the paper work but he did not give us much information, i would fine out if he did OWP, however if he did , then I have status ? if he did not , can still renew my visitor status even though its long pass 90 days?

An OWP, is an open work permit. It is likely that if a lawyer or consultant did your paperwork, they did not include this, however, there are exceptions and you should check with your lawyer. Was your visitor record Valid at the time your paperwork was received by CIC? If it was valid, then you have implied status for sure.

Yes, if you are really worried about your status in Canada, then I would go ahead and apply for a new visitor record. I think you should be able to try and renew the expired one, but not exactly sure on the requirements. If you are from a visa exempt country, you can also renew your status by leaving Canada and re-entering, which would start you fresh at 6 months again, then you can continue to renew before expiration. The down side to that is, if they decide to not let you back in, CIC will consider your application abandoned and you will have to start over again from scratch.

There are up sides and down sides to all of this immigration crap for sure, but worth all the hassles in the end to be with the one we love and want to spend the rest of our lives with.

Just weigh the pros and cons to all of your options and choose one that best works for your particular situation as everyone is different and what works for me might not work for you, understand?

Good luck!

 

[sunshine04]

Ahh see this is excactly what we read and think we did not need to continue appling for extension.
I guess I just have to pray and hope for the best, should I be asked to leave , would I be able to appeal as outland or reapply as outland ?

 

[screech339]

From what I understand, you get "implied status" under inland sponsorship only on visitor visa, work visa and study visa. So you don't have to apply for OWP in order to be granted "implied status." You can be under visitor inplied status without submitting OWP. Same goes for work visa. However you are stuck with current employer for the "implied status" for the duration of your PR application. OWP would allow you to work for any employer during the PR process. As for study visa, I am not familiar with the "implied status" for study visa. Are you able to switch universities or are you stuck with the same university like work visa. That I can't answer.

Screech339

 

[Alurra71]

Ahh...that is a very interesting distinction, and it makes sense when I think about it. I never considered that you may very well need that status in the first place just to be able to apply inland.

There's this little tidbit from the CIC site:
"Spouses and common‑law partners of Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Canada who wish to apply for permanent resident status are no longer required to have legal immigration status provided that they have an eligible sponsor. All other eligibility requirements continue to apply."

Even that in itself, I think is ambiguous. Do they mean, from when CIC determines that they have an eligible sponsor, so that until that time, you MUST maintain status? It's almost a separate discussion at this point and I don't want to derail the thread, but I think it ventures into legalspeak at this point

No, I don't think it ventures into the legaleeze section, Duber. I think it is pretty well just cut and dried. So long as you have an eligible sponsor you do not require a legal status for CIC to continue with your application. I don't think it means after the sponsor has been found eligible, although I've been wrong on more than one occasion in my life

I don't think the OP here has too much to worry about as far as status is concerned. But I think she should also weigh all the options and decide what is best for her situation.

 

[sunshine04]

from your last reply , it sounds like he did not apply for OWP because we paided 550 can $, should I ask him to forward OWP application toward my file since it is waiting to be process ?

 

[Rita27]

From what I understand, you get "implied status" under inland sponsorship only on visitor visa, work visa and study visa. So you don't have to apply for OWP in order to be granted "implied status." You can be under visitor inplied status without submitting OWP. Same goes for work visa. However you are stuck with current employer for the "implied status" for the duration of your PR application. OWP would allow you to work for any employer during the PR process. As for study visa, I am not familiar with the "implied status" for study visa. Are you able to switch universities or are you stuck with the same university like work visa. That I can't answer.

Screech339

Hi Screech,
what if you apply when you are already out of status? would that be "implied status" when they start processing the application?

 

[Alurra71]

from your last reply , it sounds like he did not apply for OWP because we paided 550 can $, should I ask him to forward OWP application toward my file since it is waiting to be process ?

You are correct, it sounds only as if you paid for sponsor and applicant fees. You will still need to pay your $490 RPRF when your application is finalized, so you are aware. Unless you have a need to work, I would not worry about an OWP at this point as it will cost you more money to apply, and likely your lawyer will want more money as well, they usually do.

You can apply for a visitor renewal, citing your application being submitted and send them copies of your receipts paying the fees and I am almost 100% positive they will grant you that status and rest your mind. It is up to you though.

 

[screech339]

Hi Screech,
what if you apply when you are already out of status? would that be "implied status" when they start processing the application?

That I am not 100% sure of. You were out of status when you applied thus you were illegally in Canada when you become out of status. I would have thought you need to have legal status first before applying for sponsorship and be granted "implied status" under the current legal status. Once your legal status expires, you would then be under "implied status" under the previous legal status. How can you be "implied status" on a status you no longer have.

Someone with experience regarding "being out of status" before sponsorship would have a better handle on giving a better advice.

Screech339

 

[DuberBlue]

That's the crux of our friendly debate Screech Does the CIC website quote I copied above mean that you DON'T need that status, and if that is so, does that mean there is no requirement to BE legal at the point you apply (so long as you have an eligible sponsor).

Or, is this a case of that statement not meaning what we think it means...I have seen a year-old post on this forum where someone stated that the sole purpose of that statement is to state that CIC cannot outright reject your app for the reason of having no status. The act of applying does not implicity grant that status in itself. The status must be there from somewhere else...

Like yourself, I do not have the answer.